Macquarie Assessment Tests

Macquarie Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a compliance analyst. A customer has been locked out of her account for four days waiting on identity checks and is becoming distressed. You can see her documents are genuine. The rule is that a second checker must release the account, and the only trained checker is off until Wednesday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Escalate it to the head of compliance today as a customer detriment case, so that somebody senior forces a release before Wednesday.
   2. Ask your manager today whether another trained checker can be found or the case prioritised, and tell the customer exactly where things stand and when you will update her.
   3. Release the account yourself since the documents are plainly genuine, and have the second checker confirm it on Wednesday when she is back at her desk.
   4. Tell the customer nothing can be done until Wednesday, and leave the case where it is until the trained checker is back at work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask your manager today whether another trained checker can be found or the case prioritised, and tell the customer exactly where things stand and when you will update her.

   Least effective: C. Release the account yourself since the documents are plainly genuine, and have the second checker confirm it on Wednesday when she is back at her desk.

   A: Escalates over two heads first: your own manager has not been asked, and a four-day identity check is not yet a detriment case.

   C: Steps around a two-person control: the second check exists precisely because one person being sure is not the standard, and confirming it afterwards cannot restore what was skipped.

   D: Accepts the constraint without testing it: nobody has been asked whether another checker exists or the case can jump the queue.

   The most effective response is to ask your manager today whether another trained checker can be found or the case prioritised, and tell the customer exactly where things stand: it tests the constraint with the person who can change it, and gives her the thing she is most short of, which is information. It beats telling the customer nothing can be done until Wednesday, because nobody has yet asked whether another checker exists. It beats escalating to the head of compliance as a detriment case, because going over your manager for a four-day check spends credit you will want. The least effective response is releasing the account yourself and having the second checker confirm it on Wednesday: a control designed so that no single person can release an account is set aside by a single person, and a retrospective confirmation is not the check. That is breaching a stated control rather than escalating too little or too far. The principle: press hard on the constraint, and never step through it alone.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a client services associate. A client emails at 9am insisting that a routine quarterly statement is sent to her today rather than next week, and will not say why. Producing it early takes about forty minutes. Your other work today has no fixed deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply that the statement will follow on the usual date next week, and assume that a client who will not explain the urgency does not really have any.
   2. Reply asking her to explain why she needs it today, and produce the statement once she has told you what the underlying deadline actually is.
   3. Produce the statement today and send it without any covering message, so that she has what she asked for and nothing more is made of it.
   4. Produce the statement today, and when you send it ask whether there is a deadline behind the request so the timing can be built in from next quarter.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Produce the statement today, and when you send it ask whether there is a deadline behind the request so the timing can be built in from next quarter.

   Least effective: A. Reply that the statement will follow on the usual date next week, and assume that a client who will not explain the urgency does not really have any.

   A: Declines to find out: forty minutes of uncommitted time is available, and the reason she will not explain is treated as evidence that there is no reason.

   B: Makes help conditional on an explanation: she has already declined to give one, and forty minutes of your time is not worth the standoff.

   C: Solves today and not next quarter: the same scramble happens again because nobody ever asked what sits behind the date.

   The most effective response is to produce the statement today and ask, when you send it, whether there is a deadline behind the request: she gets what she asked for inside a day that has room for it, and the question is asked at the point where it costs nothing. It beats replying to ask why she needs it today before producing anything, because forty spare minutes is not worth a standoff over an explanation. It beats producing it today and sending it without any covering message, because asking once prevents the same request arriving urgently every quarter. The least effective response is replying that the statement will follow on the usual date next week: a client is refused something the day plainly had room for, on an assumption about her motives that nobody tested. That is avoidance rather than an unhelpful way of helping. The principle: do the cheap thing, and ask the question that stops it recurring.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. Your department’s cost figure is £4,000 over its monthly target. A £5,000 invoice arrived on the last day and could reasonably be treated as next month’s. Your manager has said several times how important hitting the target is. Nobody would query either treatment. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Report the figure as it stands without mentioning the invoice, so the number is accurate and no argument about treatment arises at all.
   2. Report the figure as it stands and tell your manager the £5,000 invoice dated on the last day is the reason, so she can decide how to treat it.
   3. Move the invoice into next month and mention it to your manager afterwards, once the reported figure has already gone out showing the target met.
   4. Move the £5,000 invoice into next month and record the month as complete with the department inside its target, since the treatment is defensible and nobody will ask.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Report the figure as it stands and tell your manager the £5,000 invoice dated on the last day is the reason, so she can decide how to treat it.

   Least effective: D. Move the £5,000 invoice into next month and record the month as complete with the department inside its target, since the treatment is defensible and nobody will ask.

   A: Reports accurately and explains nothing: your manager sees an overrun she cannot account for and may go looking for a cause that is not there.

   C: Decides first and tells afterwards: the choice was your manager's, and it is much harder to reverse once reported.

   D: Records a result that was chosen rather than measured: the treatment was picked because of the number it produced, and nothing in the report says so.

   The most effective response is to report the figure as it stands and tell your manager the £5,000 invoice dated on the last day is the reason: the figure is what it is, the invoice timing is the whole explanation, and how to treat it is a judgement she should make knowing why it is being asked. It beats moving the invoice into next month and mentioning it afterwards, because the decision is taken before she is told. It beats reporting the figure without mentioning the invoice at all, because an unexplained overrun wastes her time. The least effective response is moving the invoice and recording the month as inside target: an accounting treatment is selected for the result it produces and reported as though it were simply the position. That is making the record say what you want rather than sequencing the conversation badly. The principle: report what happened, then raise the judgement as a judgement.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a purchase ledger clerk. Your manager asked you this morning to file last year’s invoices, which will take the day. At 10am you notice a supplier’s bank details were changed yesterday by someone outside the team, and nobody has confirmed with the supplier that the change is genuine. Your manager is at her desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Finish the filing exactly as she asked and tell your manager about the changed bank details at the end of the day, when the job she gave you this morning is actually complete.
   2. Send a note about the bank details over to the payments team, mark it as theirs now, and carry on with the filing without checking that anybody has picked it up.
   3. Ask the supplier directly whether they changed their own bank details, then carry on with the filing and mention it to your manager when there is a moment.
   4. Stop and tell your manager about the changed bank details now, and ask whether the filing should wait while somebody looks at where the change came from.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Stop and tell your manager about the changed bank details now, and ask whether the filing should wait while somebody looks at where the change came from.

   Least effective: B. Send a note about the bank details over to the payments team, mark it as theirs now, and carry on with the filing without checking that anybody has picked it up.

   A: Ranks the instruction above the information: a day is a long time for a change of this kind to sit unexamined.

   B: Hands off the urgent item and keeps the routine one: the payments team has no context, nobody has confirmed they picked it up, and the filing was never the thing that mattered today.

   C: Acts before anybody senior has looked: contacting the supplier on the number in the record is exactly what somebody would want to control first.

   The most effective response is to stop and tell your manager about the changed bank details now, and ask whether the filing should wait while somebody looks at where the change came from: a bank detail change from outside the team is exactly the thing worth interrupting for, she is two steps away, and the filing has no deadline at all. It beats finishing the filing as asked and telling her at the end of the day, because a day is a long time to leave it. It beats asking the supplier directly whether they changed their own details, because that destroys the evidence before anybody has looked. The least effective response is sending a note to the payments team and carrying on with the filing without checking anybody picked it up: the urgent item is pushed to a team with no context and no confirmation. That is offloading it rather than sequencing it badly. The principle: an instruction from this morning does not outrank what you have found since.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. The board pack goes at 9am tomorrow and one department has not sent its cost figures. Their manager is uncontactable until the morning. Last month’s figure for that department was £84,000 and the trend has been flat. Everything else in the pack is finished. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the pack without that department's page at all, so that everything in it is a figure somebody has actually supplied.
   2. Enter a figure that you work out from last month's £84,000, since the trend has been flat, and finish the pack as complete without saying where the number came from.
   3. Hold the pack until the department's manager can be reached in the morning, and send it out as soon as the real figure has arrived.
   4. Put the pack together with that department's line marked as not yet received, and tell the finance director tonight which line is missing and why.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Put the pack together with that department's line marked as not yet received, and tell the finance director tonight which line is missing and why.

   Least effective: B. Enter a figure that you work out from last month's £84,000, since the trend has been flat, and finish the pack as complete without saying where the number came from.

   A: Removes the gap from view: a missing page reads as an oversight, and the board cannot ask about a line they cannot see is absent.

   B: Invents a figure and records it as reported: the board reads a number nobody in that department has given, and nothing on the page says it was estimated.

   C: Puts a fixed 9am deadline at the mercy of one telephone call: the board gets nothing at all if the manager is late.

   The most effective response is to put the pack together with that department’s line marked as not yet received, and tell the finance director tonight which line is missing and why: the pack lands at 9am, every figure in it is one somebody supplied, the gap is visible, and the director knows before the room does. It beats holding the pack until the department’s manager can be reached in the morning, because a 9am board pack cannot wait on one manager’s morning. It beats sending it without that department’s page at all, because a silently absent page hides the very thing the board should be asking about. The least effective response is entering a figure worked out from last month’s £84,000 and finishing the pack as complete: an invented number is presented to a board as a reported one, and every decision on that page rests on it. That is a false record rather than a poor way of handling a gap. The principle: ship on time with the hole visible, never with the hole filled in.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. The daily control log should be completed each afternoon and you have not filled it in for four days. Everything was actually checked. Your supervisor reviews the log weekly and it is due tomorrow. Filling in the four days now would look identical to filling them in on the day. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Mark the four days as checked on their own dates so the log reads as complete, since the checks genuinely were done and the timing of the entry changes nothing about that.
   2. Complete the four days now without any note about when they were entered, since the substance is accurate and nobody asked about entry times.
   3. Complete the four days now, mark clearly that they were entered late, and tell your supervisor before the review so she knows what she is looking at.
   4. Leave the four days blank and tell your supervisor tomorrow morning that the checks were all done but the log was simply not kept up, so nothing inaccurate is written down at all.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Complete the four days now, mark clearly that they were entered late, and tell your supervisor before the review so she knows what she is looking at.

   Least effective: A. Mark the four days as checked on their own dates so the log reads as complete, since the checks genuinely were done and the timing of the entry changes nothing about that.

   A: Records four entries as made on days they were not: the log's value is that it shows when a check happened, and your supervisor reviews it believing exactly that.

   B: Leaves out the one fact that matters: an unmarked backfill is indistinguishable from a contemporaneous entry, which is the whole question.

   D: Discards a real record: the checks happened and the log should say so, just with the entry date visible.

   The most effective response is to complete the four days now, mark clearly that they were entered late, and tell your supervisor before the review: the substance is captured, the lateness is visible, and she reviews the log knowing what it represents. It beats completing the four days now without any note about when they were entered, because an unmarked backfill looks exactly like a contemporaneous entry. It beats leaving them blank and telling her the checks were done but the log was not kept up, because throwing away accurate information helps nobody. The least effective response is marking the four days as checked on their own dates: entries are dated to days on which they were not made, so a log that exists to show when checks happened is made to show something untrue. That is falsifying the record rather than under-documenting or over-correcting. The principle: backfill if you must, and say on the face of it that you did.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are an audit associate. Your section of the file will not be finished by Thursday as planned; Monday is realistic. Your manager is meeting the client tomorrow morning and will be agreeing the timetable for the rest of the audit. She has not asked you for an update. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her on Thursday when the section is actually due, so that the update you give her is a firm one rather than a forecast.
   2. Tell her today that your section will be ready on Monday rather than Thursday, so she can agree a timetable with the client that she can actually hold.
   3. Work through this evening and tomorrow evening to try to make Thursday, and tell her only if it becomes clear that you are not going to manage it.
   4. Leave it until Thursday without telling her, since the slip is only two working days and the position may look better by the time she asks about it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her today that your section will be ready on Monday rather than Thursday, so she can agree a timetable with the client that she can actually hold.

   Least effective: D. Leave it until Thursday without telling her, since the slip is only two working days and the position may look better by the time she asks about it.

   A: Delays past the point of use: the timetable is agreed tomorrow, so a firm update on Thursday arrives after the commitment has been made.

   C: Gambles her commitment on your own overtime: if the two evenings are not enough, she has already given the client a date.

   D: Withholds the one fact she needs before the meeting: she commits to a date in front of the client tomorrow, and the first anyone learns otherwise is when Thursday arrives.

   The most effective response is to tell her today that your section will be ready on Monday rather than Thursday: she is about to commit to a timetable, a two-day slip is easy to absorb before it is promised and awkward afterwards, and she cannot ask for what she does not know exists. It beats telling her on Thursday when the section is actually due, because Thursday is after the meeting. It beats working through two evenings to try to make Thursday and telling her only if you fail, because betting her commitment on your own evenings is a risk she has not agreed to take. The least effective response is leaving it until Thursday without telling her: she agrees a date with the client while the one person who knows it is wrong says nothing. That is silence rather than a badly timed update. The principle: bad news travels before the commitment, not after it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an audit junior on a client site. The testing you were given for this week will take two more days than the budget allows, and your manager is at another client until Thursday. The client’s team leaves at 5pm on Friday for a fortnight. You have not worked at this pace before and you are falling behind. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.
   2. Test the areas you can finish properly and leave the rest for after the client's team returns, noting in the file that those areas are outstanding.
   3. Work late every night this week to close the gap yourself, and raise it with your manager on Thursday only if you have not managed to catch up by then.
   4. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.

   Least effective: A. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.

   A: Records work that was not done as done: the file will say the areas were tested to the required depth, and everybody reading it afterwards will believe that, including the reviewer.

   B: Accepts a fortnight's delay without asking: the client is away for two weeks, and whether the file can wait that long is your manager's call.

   C: Absorbs a shortfall that is not yours to absorb: your manager loses three days in which they could have moved resource or spoken to the client.

   The most effective response is to message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client’s team is still available: a two-day gap is a resourcing decision, they can only make it if they know, and the client’s availability this week is the thing that expires. It beats working late every night to close the gap yourself and raising it on Thursday, because three nights of your own time removes your manager’s chance to fix it properly. It beats testing what you can and noting the rest as outstanding, because a two-week slip may or may not be acceptable, and that is not yours to decide alone. The least effective response is reducing the sample sizes so the testing fits and recording the work as complete: the file asserts testing that did not happen, which the reviewer, the client and anybody relying on the audit will take at face value. That is a false record rather than a bad way of handling pressure. The principle: surface the shortfall to the person who can resource it, while the opportunity is still open.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an audit junior at the end of a long week. A section needs a second reviewer’s initials before it can be sent, and your colleague who reviewed it has gone home. You watched him review it and you know he finished. The section is needed tonight. Your manager is contactable. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Record the second review as completed on the file so the section can go out tonight, since you watched him do the work and the initials are a formality once it is finished.
   2. Telephone your colleague at home and ask him to come back in to initial it, since the section genuinely is needed tonight.
   3. Send the section tonight without the second initials, and get them added first thing in the morning before anybody reads it properly.
   4. Message your manager with the position and ask whether to hold the section until the morning or find another reviewer who can initial it tonight.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Message your manager with the position and ask whether to hold the section until the morning or find another reviewer who can initial it tonight.

   Least effective: A. Record the second review as completed on the file so the section can go out tonight, since you watched him do the work and the initials are a formality once it is finished.

   A: Records a review as completed that nobody has signed off: the file states that two people cleared the section, and the second of them has not been asked and does not know.

   B: Spends a colleague's evening before asking your manager: there may be another reviewer, or the section may be able to wait.

   C: Sends work the control has not cleared: whether an unreviewed section can go out tonight is not a decision for the person who wants to go home.

   The most effective response is to message your manager with the position and ask whether to hold the section until the morning or find another reviewer tonight: she owns the deadline and the resource, both routes are available to her, and neither costs anything to ask. It beats sending the section tonight without the second initials and adding them in the morning, because sending an uncleared section is her call. It beats telephoning your colleague at home to come back in and initial it, because that is the most expensive option and has not been shown to be necessary. The least effective response is recording the second review as completed so the section can go out: the file says a second review happened when nobody has cleared it, so the one record proving two people looked at it is false. That is making the record say something the work does not. The principle: never let the file assert a check that has not happened, however sure you are of the work behind it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a personal banking assistant. A long-standing customer wants his daily transfer limit raised to £20,000 today so he can send a deposit to someone he has met online but never in person. He is certain and slightly impatient. The limit change is within what you can do. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Raise the limit to £20,000 as he has asked, since it is within what you are allowed to do and he is a long-standing customer who has been clear about what he wants.
    2. Explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask him a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit.
    3. Tell him the limit cannot be raised today and that he will need to come back another time, without going into why you are uncomfortable with the transfer.
    4. Refer him to the fraud team and take no part in the conversation yourself, since deposits to people met online are exactly what they are there for.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask him a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit.

    Least effective: A. Raise the limit to £20,000 as he has asked, since it is within what you are allowed to do and he is a long-standing customer who has been clear about what he wants.

    A: Decides which parts of the job count: the limit is within your authority, but so is the conversation about why the money is moving, and skipping it is the whole of what the role is for here.

    C: Uses a false obstacle instead of the real reason: he leaves without the information that might actually change his mind, and may simply try another route.

    D: Escalates before speaking to him: an impatient customer handed to a specialist team without a word from you is likely to disengage entirely.

    The most effective response is to explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit: it treats him as an adult, supplies the thing he does not have, and keeps the limit question open rather than making the conversation a refusal. It beats telling him the limit cannot be raised today without going into why, because inventing an obstacle sends him elsewhere with the same plan and no new information. It beats referring him to the fraud team and taking no part yourself, because a cold referral loses the only person he is currently willing to listen to. The least effective response is raising the limit to £20,000 as he asked because it is within what you may do: the transfer is enabled without any of the conversation the situation calls for, purely because the button was within reach. That is treating an authority as the whole job rather than a clumsily handled warning. The principle: authority to do something is not a reason to do it without the conversation that goes with it.